The Student Senate will welcome two new student senator members and a new parliamentarian after two members resigned.

Alex Boyd and Alex Lais, former co-chairs of university development and recycling committee, resigned at the Oct. 26 meeting.

Lais said he ended his term as student senator in order to focus on other activities, while Boyd said he resigned in order to focus more on school, among other things.

The two new members to be sworn in are Caleb Arthur, a senior history major, and Tom Schroeder, pre-business accounting major.

Jenna Mitchell, a student senate member and a junior political science major, will be appointed as Parliamentarian.

Arthur previously served as a non-senate committee member after originally being denied the position of a student senator member. He said he still wants to be involved in student government.

When Arthur originally heard of the resignation of Boyd and Lais, he contacted Student Senate Speaker Zach Samples and asked him to reconsider his application.

“It’s a good opportunity for me to give back and help out,” Arthur said.

Mitchell will be appointed as the new parliamentarian, a position previously held by Boyd, after responding to an e-mail that Samples had sent out.

Mitchell said she is very excited about the opportunity and felt it was the next step to take in her role as a student senate member.

“I’m really honored that he chose me,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell had filled in before for Boyd as parliamentarian during an absence and she said the position was difficult in the beginning.

“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Mitchell said. “You just have to make sure you’re paying close attention.”

Today’s meeting is also the open forum meeting in the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Samples said the open forum meeting is designed to appeal to a larger audience.

“It typically is our most heavily attended meeting,” Samples said. “It’s a great time to showcase what we do to a larger number of students.”

Samples said about 40 people usually attend the meeting, mainly political science students. Samples said he contacted the chairmen of all the academic departments and urged them to talk to their students and faculty about the meeting. In the past, political science professors have been known to give extra credit to students who attend the meeting, Samples said.

A “Meet and Greet” will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the University Ballroom where students can meet and talk with members of the student government and refreshments will be served, Samples said.

The Student Senate Open Forum meeting will take place at 7 p.m. today in the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Kathryn Richter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].